Mention the names Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Mike Tyson, or Rocky Marciano to anyone from 18 to 80, and you will immediately garner a reaction, a positive acknowledgement of athletes that held what was once seen as the most prestigious title in all of sports – the world heavyweight championship.

But today, ask someone who the heavyweight champion is, and you will receive either a blank stare or multiple answers, thanks to both boxing politics and the fact that those who hold this title have become faceless. Why, because talented and charismatic athletes over 200 pounds have turned to greener pastures on football gridirons across America.

This year, in a groundbreaking TV series that will set the standard in reality sports programming, boxing will look to those gridirons to find an “American Champion” to once again bring attention and prestige to the world heavyweight championship.

American Champion producers have approached several networks regarding the first American Champion show that would air in late fall of 2008.

The series will be produced by Motor Entertainment of Hollywood, CA, led by award winning producers Greg McClatchy and Jason Williams, in partnership with successful boxing promoter Roy Englebrecht.

“We already know they can hit,” said Englebrecht, owner of Roy Englebrecht Promotions and Roy Englebrecht Events who’s fight promotions company is the largest in California in terms of shows promoted. "Let's identify those huge guys who have the heart to take their skill on the football field and move it into the square ring. They're coming from one discipline – football - at 24 years old, in shape, fine tuned, right into our boxing training program.”'

“American Champion” will begin its search with 75 elite athletes from college football programs from around the country. These are athletes who have been team captains, All-America candidates, and award winners who have fallen through the cracks when it came to being drafted into the NFL. Normally, not receiving a phone call on draft day would mark the end of their athletic journey. But their size, talent, intelligence and desire has given them another chance at pro sports in the boxing ring, and under the tutelage of some of America’s top boxing trainers including the likes of renowned trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., they will learn the art of the sweet science from one of its finest teachers.

“You look at football, it’s just like boxing.” said Mayweather, who has been in the corner of fighters from his son, Floyd Jr. to the “Golden Boy”, Oscar De La Hoya. “It’s a sport where you make contact. And these guys know what pain is all about. That’s a good thing.”

“American Champion” is not a reality series…it’s reality. There will be no ‘challenges’ or other hijinks that have no correlation to learning how to become a world champion. The initial 75 athletes will be narrowed down to 30 after a series of intense mental and physical tests, and from that group, six athletes will be chosen to live and train together full-time at the American Champion sports facility.

There, a camera crew will film the drama, the pain, and the physical action that will test the will of each new prizefighter. The six men will become like brothers while training, pushing each other to perform when the bell rings, and they will not fight each other. Instead, the athletes will be developed into true professional boxers, and cameras will follow them as they make their way across the country to various fight venues, giving viewers an unprecedented look into the life on the road, in hotels, and behind the scenes that all potential champions experience.

“College football players and elite athletes who train properly, who are managed properly, and who are matched properly, can be successful in the heavyweight division,” said Englebrecht, one of the premier promoters in the fight game today. “They can bring new life to the heavyweight division, as they brought life to the athletic field. It can be done, it will be done.”

In the end, “American Champion” plans to give the heavyweight division the shot in the arm it needs while developing a star outside of the ring, as well as inside of it, a key element in bringing boxing back to the masses, as the boxers that have the skill and charisma that people can relate to – like Ali or De La Hoya – are the ones who transcend the sport.

“Just like American Idol needs people with real talent, so does heavyweight boxing,” said

American Champion producer Jason Williams. “Heavyweight boxing needs big, fast, smart, quick, dedicated strong willed guys and American Champion is going to bring that star talent to the ring and the whole world of boxing.”

Who is the next great heavyweight? “American Champion” will provide the answer to that question.

All former or current college or pro football players and elite athletes interested in attending an American Champion Tryout Camp, can register at www.theamericanchampion.com or contact Roy Englebrecht at 949-760-3131 or by email at boxing77@aol.com.

(3) comments | Add your comments
Click to read more boxing articles by Boxing Press

Discuss in Boxing Forum | Send to a friend.

---

Related Boxing Articles...

• Taylor Helps Cancer Charity that Hopkins Snubbed.

  The new undisputed middleweight champion of the world, Jermain Taylor, has stepped in to assist the American Cancer Society following a snub of the charity by former champ Bernard Hopkins. >
  
  

• Salita to Speak at Museum of American Jewish History.

  Unbeaten junior welterweight sensation Dmitriy "Star of David" Salita (22-0, 13 KO's) will speak to alumni of the birthright israel program in the gallery of the National Museum of American >
  
  

• Boxing In South Africa: Raheem Camp Denies Underestimating Opponent Funeka

  By Mesuli Zifo The camp of top American fighter Zahir Raheem has refuted reports that he is underestimating Ali Funeka ahead of their eagerly anticipated IBF Lightweight title eliminator at East >
  
  

• Boxing In South Africa: Raheem Arrives In East London, Stirs Controversy From The Start

  By Mesuli Zifo Top American fighter Zahir Raheem is proving to be as cagey outside the ring as he is in it after he went ahead and booked his own lodging >
  
  

• King and DiBella Wig Out.

  Call this a "hair raising" experience! Simply stated, rival boxing promoters Don King and Lou DiBella have "wigged out." DiBella, who is also the managing partner of the ownership group >
  
  

• Golden Boy Promotions Partners With HBO For “Next Boxing Generation”

  Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions announced a two year agreement with HBO Latin America Group yesterday to collaborate on a new television series showcasing young Latin American boxers >
  
  

• Valuev and Urkal Win.

  Tonight in Germany, heavyweight fighter Nicolai Valuev scored a solid three round stoppage over American Clifford Etienne. The American, formerly known for fighting Mike Tyson and Calvin Brock, and of >
  
  

• Boxing In Canada: Demers Shocked In Montreal

  Middleweight Sebastien Demers was scheduled to be on his way to a return match with IBF Champion Arthur Abraham later this year but last night at the Gare Windsor Salle >
  
  

• Clinton Woods Proves His Worth in Sheffield Thriller

  Clinton Woods retained his IBF Light Heavyweight crown late last night in Sheffield, England by outfighting game challenger Julio Gonzalez over an action packed twelve round battle. Gonzalez, a former >
  
  

• Top Rank Publicist Lee Samuels Suffers Family Loss

  After a long illness, the mother of esteemed longtime Top Rank publicist Lee Samuels, Irene Rose Samuels, 83, sadly passed away over the weekend. Lee, his brother Curtis and his >
  
  

---

Boxing News Tags: American Champion, Heavyweight